This was inspired by a product I bought from Ikea. It is a lightweight, folding lap table, but although I am currently using it, many little things frustrate me. It’s just a little too short – my cats have clawed me accidentally trying to play underneath and hooking into my legs (ouch!), and it’s too narrow when you’ve got a 17″ laptop. There’s ZERO room to use a mouse, or have a place to make notes if you’re trying to work in bed or while kicking back on the couch.
Soooo…. time to see what scraps I have in my founded wood pallet pile. I built a lap desk out of primarily pine and oak, with a couple of scraps of redwood I had lying around just for some color differences on the legs. I always try to pick out wood with unusual patterns, and once I got started, I realized that it would make a great last-minute gift for a good friend who could use something like this!
I built it in two afternoons. I did a lot (!!!) of sanding with my palm sander to try to straighten and fit the edges of each slat tight, and glued each piece together, clamping them overnight. After sanding for what seemed like forever, I stained it with the last remnants of the light cherry finish I’ve used on other projects I’ve posted up (only one coat!), and then followed up with four coats of water-based polyurethane.
Total cost: $1.79 (USD) – I had to buy four small hinges. I only had largely recycled hinges from doors, so I had actually to spend money this time… The good news is that my friend loved her Christmas present! I hope you all enjoy it too, and go out there and have some fun recycling some wood!
Take the risk. I have no woodworking talent, no training, no special tools (I have a basic table saw, a basic chop saw, a cordless drill & screwdriver, and two palm sanders), and I am grateful for others who share their ideas and inspirations… it’s helped me try it too!
Now I’ve got to build another one for myself. I can already think of some things I want to tweak. HA HA
A Shaker Style Kitchen cabinet doors with pallet wood center panels and poplar wood frames…
Glass has a high carbon footprint, and horticultural glass is expensive, so I just…
Christmas is here and I wanted to create my own Christmas decorations using wooden pallets.…
I made a Pallet coffee Table from recycled pallet blocks and sold it to a…
Tips for building an 8,000-gallon pallet pool for your kids, family, and their friends.
View Comments
What a lovely color! I sew, write, sketch, and all kinds of other things I can think of to use this for. I think I'd add a little pocket type of thing for pencils or scissors, quilting pins, measuring tape or ruler, etc . . . I'm thinking I would just use a staple gun and some faux leather stapled to the edge of one short side or something . . . I dunno . . . It's gorgeous JUST like that!
This is a great tutorial, one thing missing. . . Or I just missed it. Could you show a photo of the underside of the tavle, please?
Oops! I never took any photos of the underside. I built the underside to resemble a picture frame, both for a place for the slats to mount to AND for the place for the hinges to mount. I had to sand the edge of the under-frame where the legs would lean against at the top (where the hinges would be) - otherwise the legs would've been at a 90-degree angle, and then the table would've been unstable. This is one thing I'd tweak when I build a 2nd one for me - I'm not gonna waste all the time using a sander to roll part of that frame over, and on the top frame of the leg. The more you trim, the more the legs can lean out at a wider, more stable angle. So the next time I'll just use the table saw and set it to an angle, so it's just cut quickly.
On a follow-up - my friend ADORES this table because I made it a little taller and a LOT wider. It's just wide enough so that if she folds the legs under, it works as a tray across the arms of her recliner, which is good because she's got bad knees, and couldn't easily use her laptop AND do paperwork in her comfy chair. She also said that with the multiple coats of polyurethane floor sealant, that it withstands hot coffee cups (and the occasional spill), and is a nice, smooth surface for working on when she's grading papers. <3 That made the two days of work totally worth if to make my friend's day a little better!
I too have a 17" laptop, so I'll have to make it a bit longer as well. Thanks!!!